Weddingbee Blog

… harmony is what we constantly strive for.” - Charlotte Moss

Our vision for our wedding hasn’t really strayed too far from our initial concept– regardless of location, we knew that we wanted to blend a casual yet preppy vibe. And now that we’ve decided to get married in Jamaica, we’re throwing in the tropical aspect as well.

Tropical + Casual + Preppy = somewhat of a mess.

Tropical & casual, yes. Casual & Preppy, yes-ish. But Tropical & Preppy? When I think “preppy” I think country club, but I’ve discovered that it doesn’t have to be that way.

Enter Quiche Wedding: General Inspiration Board #1.

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Well, would you look at that! Tropical + Casual + Preppy = Perfection!
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An interesting article popped up today posing the question, “Do Romantic Comedies Spoil Our Love Lives?”

As a helpless lover of all things chick-flick/lit, this article intrigued me. I was hoping for a little “more” from the article, but even without reading it, you get the idea.

Even more helpless when said movie/book is British…

Do people have unrealistic expectations of love and relationships after watching this particular genre of movies?
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… it has to be one the bride can dance in. I love the idea that something is practical and still looks great.” - Vera Wang

I didn’t plan on getting my dress as quickly as I did. In fact, I bought it so fast that I didn’t even wait to try on my original front runner:

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Mr. Quiche. Stop. I don’t even want you to see me in the discarded gowns. Do not press “Read More”. Merci et je t’aime!
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Mr. Quiche and I are such “music” people, that I don’t trust leaving the song decisions up to a Jamaican DJ. We don’t want the same old song and dance (Electric Slide, Shout!, you get the point…).

The resort provides a Jamaican Mento band (I had no idea what one was, either!) as part of our general wedding package. I am glad that we’re going to have some Jamaican music for the ceremony, but I don’t want that to be the sole source of entertainment for the reception.
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Two years ago, my mom and step-dad married on the grounds at the Hibiscus Lodge Hotel in Ocho Rios. Mr. Quiche and I were the sole wedding guests/witnesses/wedding party/etc. It was very special for all of us to share in this event together. We were sad that my other sisters and now step-sisters (Yes, you read that right – all sisters. My step-dad is a saint… 6 women!) couldn’t make it, but school/work/life made it hard for everyone else to attend.

Anyway, the grounds of this little hotel are gorgeous and HUGE. We decided to check it out for our wedding as well, as it would be meaningful to me to get married at the same place my mom did. We also decided to stay the night at the hotel in order to “test” out the rooms (they are very cheap, which would be nice for our guests), the food, service and overall ambiance of the hotel. Well… let’s just say that what we experienced 2 years prior are some of the only redeeming qualities of the hotel, those being the grounds and food (very important, though). Our room was threadbare and awful – but we found out that we could still have the wedding and reception at the hotel and have our guests stay somewhere else in Ocho Rios.

Beautiful flowers
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Beware: Lots of pictures ahead!

Mr. Quiche and I decided that we weren’t comfortable with booking our wedding sight unseen. So we decided to take a trip to do “research” (natch). We spent hours, days, weeks worth of online research to narrow down our choices. Our four options included a small resort in Montego Bay, renting private villas in Discovery Bay, the place where my mom and Pete were married in Ocho Rios, and a less expensive, small “resort” in Negril. I’ll start with our first two.

We chanced a trip during hurricane season, but other than one, albeit short, downpour, we were pretty lucky. Our first stop was in Montego Bay at the Coyaba Resort. We were immediately impressed, as we were greeted with a cool towel and a rum punch upon check-in! The perfect start to a Jamaican vacation - I mean RESEARCH trip. After dropping off our bags in our gorgeous suite, we met with one of the wedding managers. He was great! We went on a tour of the grounds and loved it.

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As excited as I am to be getting married in Jamaica, I feel that having a destination wedding puts a serious damper on my DIY hopes and dreams. If we were getting married in Chicago, I’m afraid that I’d want to do everything from invitations to flowers to hanging lights to… you name it! Our Jamaican par-tay will streamline my potential projects. I tend to get ahead of myself when it comes to any type of project, so perhaps this is actually a GOOD thing.

One aspect that I want (and will try my hardest to achieve) to DIY are the flowers. A (singular) bouquet and boutonniere are included in our wedding package. And let me tell you – I don’t think they’re pretty.

For some reason, anthuriums creep. me. out.

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“…as a great big ring on Elizabeth Taylor’s finger.”

- Andy Warhol

Mr. Quiche and I had so much fun designing my ring. We both agreed that the ring didn’t need to be a surprise, as long as the proposal was (and was it ever!).

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I absolutely love the Tiffany Legacy ring, and we used this as our inspiration.
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This post is somewhat personal, but I figure if I am sharing not only my wedding planning experiences with you, but also some details of our relationship, I should talk a little bit about our pasts.

I mentioned briefly in a previous post that Mr. Quiche has been married before. I don’t want to delve into the details of his previous relationship, and feel I wouldn’t give a very unbiased view of things. They were married for a few years, and suffice it to say, it didn’t work out. They also have 2 children. He has been divorced for over 6 years.

When we first started dating, it didn’t really bother me.We were friends for a while before we started dating, so there really was nothing to “hide”. I guess you could say, on the surface, I knew what I was getting myself into, but it really is so much more that just that. Relationships are hard enough as it is, let alone throwing in two kids and an ex-wife. Priorities are different. Dynamics change. Sometimes, I was a pretty selfish girlfriend, and that just does not work when there are little ones to consider. There were times when I would get upset because I felt like the kids were taking time away from Mr. Quiche and I being together (I know, it’s horrible, but I am just being honest). I would get annoyed and resentful. Especially when it came to his ex-wife.
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While browsing a few random wedding sites, I came across the idea of using luggage tags for OOT bags. I LOVED this idea, and as we are putting “goody bags” in each hotel room, it seemed perfect. Then I had an even better idea and decided to use them as our Save the Dates. I had been working with a designer from Etsy.com for a monogram design and decided to have her make a couple of them - one that is more whimsical/tropical (STD) and one that is more preppy (invitation). We put the monogram on one side and the wedding information on the other side, set up to look like a luggage tag:

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Tropical location or not, I will do everything in my power to have preppiness incorporated into as many aspects of the wedding that I can. One place where this was easy to do was in the bridesmaids’ dresses. You see, I love seersucker. Love it. However, the quest for seersucker bridesmaid dresses isn’t easy or cheap. The one site I found them on was ridiculously expensive (for COTTON, people!) and not exactly the style I was envisioning.

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I wasn’t crazy about the striped fabric for the wedding.

I knew from the beginning that I wanted navy blue dresses for my girls. Perfectly preppy, crisp, and it is one of my favorite colors. The search for “Navy Seersucker Dresses” took me to good ol’ target.com and that’s when I found the perfect dress:

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We are getting married in Jamaica. Mr. Quiche has been married before and has already done the traditional wedding thing, and has always said he wouldn’t do it again. Once we talked about it and as he realized that getting married in Chicago was important to me, he tentatively came around. I had zero desire for a destination beach wedding. I’m from Ohio (Go Buckeyes!), but have never wanted to get married there. We researched several options in Chicago (too expensive), Paris (I am a Francophile and studied there in college, but it was too far and expensive for our guests!), and Wisconsin.

Wisconsin, you ask? Our friend and Best Man, R, graciously offered us his gorgeous lake house in East Troy, WI on Lake Beulah (near Lake Geneva).

It has a gorgeous lawn right on the lake (this picture is from pre-landscaping construction!)

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Since we are having a destination wedding, I initially thought it would be pointless to send save the dates. Why not just send the invitation with all of the information so that everyone could get their trip booked? Mr. Quiche actually stepped in and said that we “have to send save the dates. The invitations can’t go out until February”. Okay, I thought – he wants to do STDs, we will do STDs!

Then me and my indecisive brain took over and I couldn’t. decide. on. ANYTHING! Panic set in when I realized that this was only Step One of wedding planning and if I couldn’t make up my mind on these, what could I make my mind up on? Wouldn’t this set the tone for the entire wedding? I did some Googling around and decided that if other couples could have fun with their STDs (ha), then so could we!

We initially liked the idea of sending a postcard. After playing around with pictures on Photoshop that we took on our “research” trip, I came up with a black and white burnished picture of the beach (very cool, in my opinion):

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I may be slightly biased, but I do believe that I may have the best proposal story. Ever (yes, biased).

Let me take you back to a gorgeous July 2nd… (It’s long, but bear with me - it’s worth it!)

Having celebrated our birthdays (they are 5 days and x years apart) the week before with a group of our closest friends, Mr. Quiche had the idea for the two of us to celebrate on this particular Wednesday night – make dinner together, watch a movie. We both worked all day, and around 4 PM, he called and offered to pick me up from work. Excited that I wouldn’t have to slink into the underworld that is the Grand Red Line el stop, I said, “Great – thanks!” We got home around 5:20 and Mr. Quiche told me to just relax and read or watch TV, and he would take care of making dinner. Once it was ready, I came out to a lovely cheese fondue (my favorite), a bottle of wine, and candles on the coffee table. Just before we ate, he suggested that we watch “Love Actually”.
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Like all Bees before me, let me start off by saying how EXCITED I am to be here! When I found out that I was chosen to be the newest bee, I was at work and had to run into the presentation binding room to jump up and down and squeal! Stalking, err, perusing, Weddingbee is one of my favorite pastimes and I am honored to be here with all of you.

My fiancé and I decided that “Miss Quiche” suits me perfectly, as it is one of my signature dishes. I even make mini quiche for most soirées. And as you can probably tell, I am a bit of a Francophile (just call me Mademoiselle Quiche!). I studied in Lyon, France during college and it changed my life.

I am from Ohio and have been living in Chicago for the past 6 years. Ohio State is my alma mater, and I am a die-hard Buckeye fan. I am obsessed with interior design and one day (soon?) hope to work for myself full-time. My family and friends mean the world to me, and I wouldn’t be where I am today without them. I am a bookaholic and my life has been known to come to a screeching halt when engrossed in a great book (I’m talking to you, Edward Cullen, Anne Boleyn, Paulo Coelho, Jane Green and Jen Lancaster!). I tend to overuse ampersands & parenthetical phrases (but I can’t help it!).

Mr. Quiche and I met over 5 years ago and have been together for 4.
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